No Rahul versus Modi in 2014, Congress refuses to name its PM candidate

January 17, 2014, 11:42 am

By day time on Thursday, it was getting very clear that Rahul Gandhi, the scion of Nehru-Gandhi family may not be formally announced as Congress Prime Ministerial candidate as speculated.

In the Congress many senior leader were getting vocal that Rahul would be named the party election campaign committee chief and derail BJP to attempt to portray 2014 election as Rahul vs Modi

At the CWC meeting held the same evening, it was Sonia Gandhi who soft-pedaled the proposal to name Rahul Gandhi as PM candidate saying it is not the tradition of the Congress to name PM before the elections.

Among those who tiptoed Sonia Gandhi dictat was Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh who said the possibility of naming PM comes later after the elections. “We have well defined procedures to elect out leader”.

Instead, the party has decided to make Gandhi its campaign committee chief for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

According to reports, it was Congress president Sonia Gandhi who decided to go against the wishes of the Congress working committee, which wanted the party vice-president to be its prime ministerial candidate.

Rahul Gandhi has accepted the role given to him. He said, "I am a dedicated worker of party, whatever responsibility party gives me, I will carry it out".

Congress leader Janardhan Dwivedi reportedly said: " Congress president intervened when all CWC wanted Rahul to be made PM. She said this is not the party's tradition (to announce its PM candidate before elections)."

In the past, Rahul Gandhi had appeared reluctant to take up any responsibility in the government. However, with the Lok Sabha elections being just a few months away, he has said that he was a foot soldier of the Congress and was willing to undertake any responsibility given to him by the party.

Talking to a Hindi newspaper recently, he had said: "I am a 'sepoy' of Congress. I will obey whatever order is given to me. I will do whatever Congress wants me to do ... Decisions are taken in our party by senior leaders."

Speculations were rife that the Gandhi scion would be anointed as the Congress's prime ministerial candidate on January 17, which would have made him take on BJP's PM nominee Narendra Modi directly in this year's general elections.